Sean Pertwee as Lestrade! Awesome! They called him "Gareth" here, which is new; canonically, he's simply G. Lestrade. (He was Giles Lestrade on BBC Radio and Greg Lestrade on Sherlock, although that version seems to be an amalgam of Lestrade and Gregson.) And they referenced "The Adventure of the Norwood Builder," which was indeed one of the stories Lestrade was in.

My problem is, I grew up with the Granada Holmes series pronouncing "Lestrade" with a long A, rhyming with "trade," so I've come to think of that as the way it should be pronounced (after all, he's English, not French, so it makes sense that the pronunciation would've been Anglicized), and the French-style pronunciation that every other production uses, rhyming with (the American pronunciation of) "trod," always sounds wrong to me.

I'm more lukewarm about Mycroft. I don't get why the modern Mycrofts have to be so... thin. At least this Mycroft was formerly obese, and possibly formerly lazy as well, though that seemed more like Sherlock being hurtful. But I suppose the subplot of his attempt to make amends with his brother fit the theme of the episode. I guess Rhys Ifans doesn't do much for me as a performer.

Nice that they actually shot in London -- though I think the 221B interior was a stateside set, since Joan looked greenscreened in front of the window.

Good: the episode didn't use "London Calling," which is the cliched song whenever an American series crosses the Pond. I'm not sure "Hello" by Oasis was any better. Britpop, really? You'd think we'd traveled back in time to 1995.

Bad: I didn't really care about Lestrade, how Holmes left him hanging, how his life had gone downhill. It wasn't Pertwee's fault. The script had other things going, and it let us down there.

Good: Watson in the ersatz Batgirl t-shirt. That was a fantasy I didn't even know I had.

Bad: Holmes' jealous rant when Watson says Mycroft wants to take her to dinner.

Good: Rhys Ifans. He had good material to work with and I totally bought him as Holmes' older brother. (Speaking of which, I loved the call back to "The Greek Interpreter" with Watson's exasperation at the discovery that Holmes had an older brother.) I wish he were a bit more canonical, but for all we know at this point he really does work for the British government and his restaurant business is, like Universal Export for James Bond, a front for his other activities.

Bad: The pointless destruction at the end. I'm not sure why that was necessary, I'm not clear how that's supposed to get Sherlock's attention. It was random.

Good: The mystery. I was glad the episode didn't give us red herrings or blind alleys. We started from the assumption that the guy had done it, and then it was a matter of Holmes figuring out how it was done.

Also good: Watson stopping the pigeon guy in Washington Square Park. I'd like to think she used baritsu.

Overall I enjoyed "Step Nine." The Lestrade stuff, no offense to Pertwee, was the episode's main stumbling block. The rest was solid, and hopefully we'll see Mycroft again.

It occurred to me to wonder if the song they were playing might be "London Calling," because I've heard the name of the song, but I have no idea what it actually sounds like. Or who performed it. Or what it's about, besides, well, you know.

It occurred to me to wonder if the song they were playing might be "London Calling," because I've heard the name of the song, but I have no idea what it actually sounds like. Or who performed it. Or what it's about, besides, well, you know.

I've only watched once so might be wrong, but the ones that popped out were:

* Highgate. Less manicured and more overgrown, rambling. But I guess they either weren't allowed to film there or didn't want to.

* Baker St. Not sure where they filmed that. But filming at actual 221b (which I think from memory is a museum/tourist trap) either not practical (it's a busy main road) or they wanted something more hipster.

* New Scotland Yard. I'm sure we saw an establishing sign, and then the next minute they're by the river several miles away overlooking Tower Bridge . Again, that's probably impracticality of real location, and production desire to get a cool riverfront shot that screams 'LONDON'.

^I did note that Holmes never said his abode was 221B Baker Street -- just "221B."

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Did any other than me count the number of steps? It was difficult to tell, because the camera angle changed when the stairwell curved, but I came up with sixteen steps, rather than the canonical seventeen.

^I did note that Holmes never said his abode was 221B Baker Street -- just "221B."

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Good catch . Will look out for that on rewatch. The location stuff doesn't personally bother me. More amusing, and am used to a certain crazy artistic licence in this city. Am curious whether there'll be other London eps though, or whether that's a one-off.

The location stuff doesn't personally bother me. More amusing, and am used to a certain crazy artistic licence in this city.

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It's not uncommon to favor a scenic location over geographic accuracy. In Continuum, a show that's actually set in Vancouver as well as filmed there, the famous Vancouver Public Library is used to represent the exterior of the city's police headquarters.

The location stuff doesn't personally bother me. More amusing, and am used to a certain crazy artistic licence in this city.

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It's not uncommon to favor a scenic location over geographic accuracy. In Continuum, a show that's actually set in Vancouver as well as filmed there, the famous Vancouver Public Library is used to represent the exterior of the city's police headquarters.

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In Robin Hood Prince Of Thieves, Robin lands at the White Cliffs of Dover with 'We'll be in Nottingham by nightfall'.